Luckily, we now have a solution to this issue - pHAT BEAT! It uses two of the chips on Speaker pHAT to give you stereo audio, has neat little push-fit speaker terminals, and two rows of RGB LEDs that are ideal for using as a VU meter, as well as a bunch of buttons along the edges.

The ultimate audio add-on for your Pi! pHAT BEAT gives you high-quality, digital, amplified, stereo audio and 16 beautiful little RGB LEDs, in two rows of 8, that are ideal as a VU meter, and 6 buttons to control your audio.